Bernie: A-Rod’s injury a ‘blessing in disguise’

Bernie Williams knows about the pressures of playing in New York with a big contract. He knows about expectations and the media. To that end, he had some interesting things to say about Alex Rodriguez this weekend. “As hard as this may sound, it could be a blessing in disguise for him, because it might give him an opportunity to get away from all this craziness and give him an opportunity to heal. Kind of dissipate the whole distraction,” Bernie said while practicing with the Puerto Rican WBC team.

I agree with that aspect of Bernie’s comments, but he also said that it “might be good for the Yankees too” because the team has “enough firepower in that lineup.” But with older players returning from injuries and younger players coming off sub-par years, the Yanks were really counting on A-Rod‘s bat. It’s nearly impossible to replace a .306/.389/.578 hitter, and while being away from the PED scandal fallout may do A-Rod good, the Yanks will suffer if he is to miss a lot of time. (Hat tip BBTF.)

I think we’ll see a brand of small-ball happening without A-Rod in the lineup. It was those base-to-base Yankees that won all the time, anyway.

Count Zero

Undeniable — the base to base Yankees were better. Low scoring teams are always better than teams that score a lot of runs. It’s a proven fact. More runs scored = less wins — indisputable fact right there. Runs given up = irrelevant.

Drew

totally agree. mo money= mo problems

jim p

You’ll remember the championship Yankees beat the awesome slugging Cleveland and Texas teams most times when it mattered.

And during that period there was one time you had a Yankee hit 40 homes runs (or was it two?) and you had maybe one or two hitters in the top ten in BA at the most. And as a team they were rarely, if ever, in the top 5 of most offensive categories. The exception being OBP.

The difference was people were at the plate looking to make contact and not swinging from their heels all the time. And more to the point, they may not have put up great numbers, but they were clutch. See, say, Dave Winfield about the difference.

http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

It was those base-to-base Yankees that won all the time because they had awesome pitching, anyway.

Fixed.

Tommy S.

Exactly. Even if all you have is decent hitting, you could win as long as your pitching is excellent. Assuming that the Yankees 1-5 pitch to their capabilities, the absence of A-Rod for three months of the season may not be as big of a deal as people are saying, especially with the addition of Tex.

However, assuming that the starters pitch to their full capabilities and also that they go without too many injuries is a rather large assumption.

Artist formerly known as ‘The’ Steve

Absolutely.

But there’s a a flip side to this. What happens when the Yanks FACE awesome pitching (as you often do in the playoffs) the type that shuts down their big sluggers, then what?

There’s nothing wrong with diversifying your attack and having some players who are flexible in their approach.

If you use productive outs as a proxy for smallball, that may not be true. As Larry Mahnken wrote in May 2004:

Over the past two postseasons, the Yankees have had a POP [productive out percenage] of .310. From 1998-2000, when the Yankees won three consecutive championships, they had a POP of .268.

So the idea that the “Yankees that won all the time” played smallball would appear to be incorrect.

John

Different option for Alex from the Times:
As Alex Rodriguez, medical experts and Yankees officials ponder whether to rest or repair the torn labrum in Rodriguez’s right hip, a third option of how to treat the tear has gained momentum, according to a person in baseball familiar with the matter.

Under what is being called the hybrid option, Rodriguez would have a modest surgery that would repair the labrum and would keep him off the field for only about a month, the person said. The repair would allow him to play from one to three years. Eventually he would need a more invasive surgery.

“It would be like using a nail instead of a steel girder to repair it,” said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because no decision had been made. “Eventually the nail would have to be replaced with the steel girder.”

Tommy S.

Sounds promising, I hope a procedure like that would work.

Rich

As long as it removes the risk for a more serious procedure, like microfracture surgery, it would seem to make sense.

Drew

Well, we know why Bernster isn’t signed on with Yes or Espn

Artist formerly known as ‘The’ Steve

“Doctors might think Alex Rodriguez has a chance to get back to normal through rest and rehab and without surgery, but Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has to worry about the last nine years of A-Rod’s contract; if the hip isn’t properly fixed and his skills depreciate, it would be a bad business decision to worry most about 2009.

Doctors thought Chase Utley and Mike Lowell could rest and rehab. Utley hit his 27th home run Aug. 12 and hit six the rest of the season. Lowell hit his 11th homer June 18 and hit six the rest the season.”

So if he tries to play through it, the question becomes how diminished does Alex become and when.

Memo

I’m really tired of this distraction crap. I’m beginning its the other Yankees who are the fragile ones. Pretty soon they are going to need complete silence and a field made of cotton balls to be able to do the job they are paid millions to do.